Giada De Laurentiis Shares Weeknight-Ready
Recipes for the Busy Entrepreneur

ince we last spoke with Giada De Laurentiis, the star chef has been up to nothing but big things. At the time of our interview, she was celebrating the opening of her epic restaurant on the Vegas strip and releasing her seventh cookbook, all while raising her young daughter and continuing to grow her food-media empire. Now, Giada is keeping fans engaged with the launch of her gorgeous new lifestyle platform, Giadzy.

“This is the next evolution for me,” Giada tells DLM. “It’s a way for me to connect with my audience and help people solve everyday issues in a timely way.” Alongside Giada’s best recipes, healthy living advice, travel tips and kitchen secrets, Giadzy also features innovative interactive elements like the “Ask Giada” concierge portal, where fans can get guidance and submit their own recipes, plus soon-to-come live stream cooking classes at home with Giada.

The new platform makes Giada’s world more accessible than ever, allowing her to spontaneously share recipe details, behind-the-scenes photos and of-the-moment entertaining ideas. But she’s also set on bringing outside voices into the fold. “There’s so much to be learned and I can’t answer every question, so I’m hoping to collaborate with other influencers, chefs and experts, and build a community of people who can help me do that.”

As Giadzy makes its debut, Giada is busy penning her next cookbook and hosting the 13th season of the hit show Food Network Star. Rest assured, she does not have three hours to spend cooking dinner for her family every night, so we had to ask—how does an ambitious entrepreneur who also happens to be a renowned chef do healthy, home-cooked meals in thirty minutes or less? Ahead, five of Giada’s current weeknight favorites to take you from Monday through Friday in chic Italian style.

Monday

Pan-Seared Branzino
with Tomato and Capers

Serves 2
Prep Time: 5 minutes Cook Time: 8 minutes
Ingredients:
4 skin on branzino filets, bones removed
½ teaspoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 cup cherry tomatoes, quartered
2 tablespoons capers, drained and rinsed
½ cup pitted nicoise olives, halved
3 tablespoons dry white wine
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons chopped Italian parsley

Directions:
Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Place the branzino filets on a paper towel and dry well. Score the skin side of the fish with a sharp knife by making 3 shallow cuts on a slight diagonal on each filet. Season the filets evenly on all sides with the salt. Add the oil to the hot pan. Place the filets in the pan, skin side down, being sure to lay the fish in the pan away from you. Press gently on each filet to make sure the skin has full contact with the hot pan. Allow the fish to cook undisturbed for 3 minutes.
Using a fish spatula, gently flip each filet and cook for another 30 seconds on the flesh side. Remove the branzino to a platter, skin side up and keep warm. To the hot pan, add the tomatoes, capers and olives. Cook for 1 minute, stirring often with a wooden spoon. Add the white wine, reduce the heat to medium, and cook for an additional 2 minutes to reduce the wine by half. Stir in butter and parsley. Spoon the sauce over the branzino and serve.
 

Tuesday
Lemon and Pea Alfredo

Serves 6
Prep Time: 5 minutes Cook Time: 20 minutes
Ingredients:
1 pound fusilli col buco, such as rustichella d’abruzzo or setaro
3 tablespoons butter
1 clove garlic, minced
2 ½ cups freshly grated parmesan cheese, plus more for garnish
1 cup mascarpone cheese, at room temperature
2 teaspoons lemon zest, from 2 lemons
¾ teaspoon kosher salt
1 ½ cups frozen peas, thawed
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon pink peppercorns, ground

Directions:
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until just under al dente, about 10 or 11 minutes.

Meanwhile heat a large straight sided skillet over medium heat. Add the butter to the hot pan. When the butter is melted add the garlic and cook, stirring often until soft and fragrant. Add 1/2 cup of the pasta water and reduce the heat to low. When the pasta is ready remove it from the water and add it directly to the pan with the sauce.

Bring the heat back to medium and sprinkle 1 ½ cups of the parmesan directly on the plain pasta. Stir to combine. Add the mascarpone, zest and salt. Toss well to coat adding pasta water as needed to thin the sauce and to assist in finishing cooking the pasta. Add the peas, lemon juice and remaining cheese. Toss well to combine adding pasta water as needed to reach the desired consistency of the sauce. You will more than likely use close to 1 ½ cups pasta water total. Sprinkle with the pink peppercorns and additional parmesan if desired.
 

Wednesday
Pan-Roasted Asparagus
with Crispy Fried Egg

Serves 1
Ingredients:
For the breadcrumb gremolata:
1 ½ teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons Panko breadcrumbs
¼ teaspoon lemon zest
pinch of chili flakes
pinch of salt
2 tablespoons Italian Parsley, chopped
1 tablespoon grated parmesan
For the asparagus:
1 tablspoon extra virgin olive oil, divided
¼ pound thin asparagus, trimmed
pinch of salt
1 large egg

Directions:
For the gremolata, heat a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the olive oil and breadcrumbs and toast, stirring often with a wooden spoon until golden brown. Place in a small bowl and while still hot, add the lemon zest, chili flakes and salt. Mix together and allow the mixture to cool to room temperature. Stir in the parsley and cheese.

Wipe out the pan with a dish towel. To that pan, add 1 teaspoon olive oil and heat over medium high heat add the asparagus and a pinch of salt and cook for about 4 to 5 minutes, stirring and flipping often with tongs until they are bright green, cooked through and slightly browned.

Remove to your serving plate. To the same pan add the remaining 2 teaspoons olive oil and place over medium high heat. Crack the egg into the pan, being careful as it may splatter, season it with salt and reduce the heat slightly and cook for about 2 to 3 minutes or until the edges are light brown and crispy and the whites are just set. The yolk should still be runny. Using a slotted spatula slide the egg on top of the asparagus. Sprinkle the whole dish with the panko gremolata and a drizzle of olive oil if desired.
 

Thursday
No Cook Cobb Salad

Serves 4
Prep Time: 5 minutes Cook Time: 20 minutes
Ingredients:
For the chickpeas:
1 15 ounce can low sodium chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 tablespoon chopped dill
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
¼ teaspoon kosher salt

For the dressing:
2 teaspoons whole grain mustard
1 teaspoon sherry vinegar
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
¼ teaspoon kosher salt

For the salad:
1 large head romaine lettuce, cleaned and chopped into bite sized pieces
½ rotisserie chicken, meat cut from the bone and diced
1 avocado, diced
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
5 thin slices speck or prosciutto, chopped
¼ cup crumbled gorgonzola dolce cheese

Directions:
In a small bowl mix together the chick peas, dill, olive oil and salt. Let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes or they can be refrigerated up to over night.
In a large bowl, whisk together the mustard, vinegar olive oil and salt. To the dressing add the lettuce and toss gently to coat. Divide the dressed lettuce into 4 bowls.
Now top the lettuce with the remaining ingredients making one section of chicken, one of avocado, one of tomatoes and one of the marinated chickpeas so they look like slices of pie. Place a few pieces of speck right in the middle and sprinkle the gorgonzola over the top.
 

Friday

Chicken Piccata

Serves 4
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Ingredients:
4 skinless boneless chicken breasts, halved crosswise
½ teaspoon sea salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
All purpose flour (for dredging)
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
½ cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
⅓ cup fresh lemon juice (from about 2 lemons)
¼ cup drained capers, rinsed
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Directions:
Sprinkle the chicken with the salt and pepper. Dredge the chicken in the flour to coat lightly. In a large sauté pan, melt 2 tablespoons of butter with 2 tablespoons of oil over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and cook just until brown, about 3 minutes per side. Using tongs, transfer the chicken to a plate.
Add the broth, lemon juice and capers to the same pan. Bring the broth mixture to boil over medium-high heat, scraping up the brown bits from the bottom of the pan for extra flavor. Return the chicken to the pan and simmer until just cooked through, about 5 minutes. Using tongs, transfer the chicken to a platter. Whisk the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter into the sauce. Pour the sauce over the chicken, garnish with the parsley, and serve.
 

For more delicious Italian recipes and lifestyle inspiration from Giada De Laurentiis, visit: giadzy

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